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Arraignment set Feb. 3 for driver in fatal accident

A 22-year-old Bradenton man will be arraigned Feb. 3 in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Sarasota in connection with the Jan. 7 death of a Siesta Key runner.

Blake C. Talman has been in the Sarasota County Jail since just before 7 p.m. Jan. 7, approximately six hours after the incident was reported on Midnight Pass Road. He is under a combined bond of $100,000 on two counts stemming from the death of 53-year-old Siesta resident Donna L. Chen — Negligent Manslaughter by Vehicle involving DUI and Negligent Homicide involving a Vehicle.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol report, Talman was fleeing north on Midnight Pass Road, after a collision with another vehicle, when he failed to keep his car on the road in the curve by St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church. Talman’s 2000 Nissan Altima ran off the road on the eastern shoulder, hit a metal pole and continued northbound on the shoulder, where he struck Donna L. Chen.

Chen was running on the sidewalk on the east side of the road, also headed northbound, at the time of the incident, according to the Highway Patrol.

After striking Chen, Talman’s vehicle hit landscaping and a street sign for North View Drive, then swerved across North View Drive, veered to the left across Midnight Pass Road, then onto the western shoulder, where it struck several yellow wooden poles at the entrance to the church. As the car continued along the western shoulder, a second vehicle — a 1993 Ford Escort driven by 18-year-old Ashley D. Mullins of Sarasota — had come to a halt, also on the west shoulder of Midnight Pass Road, just north of the driveway for St. Michael’s to avoid a collision with the Nissan.

The report says the Nissan hit the right rear corner of the Escort, causing the Nissan to veer to the left, where its front struck a telephone pole. That collision, according to the report, cause the Nissan to rotate counter-clockwise. It finally came to rest partly on the western shoulder and partly in the southbound lane of Midnight Pass Road, facing southwest.

Mullins was able to come to a controlled stop on the west shoulder, facing south.

Chen was found lying on the center line of the road, face down.

According to the report, Talman suffered serious injuries; he was treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital before he was transported to the Sarasota County Jail. A passenger in the Talman vehicle, 24-year-old David J. Brewer of Sarasota, also suffered serious injuries and was transported to SMH.

Mullins suffered minor injuries, the report said, and did not go to the hospital.

Talman also is charged with hit and run in connection with the first incident, from which he had fled before striking Chen, the report says. He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 26 on that charge, along with DUI and DUI and Damage to Property charges in that case. His total bond on those counts is $3,000.

In the Chen case, Talman has been charged additionally with nine counts of DUI and Damage to Property. His total bond in the Chen/Mullins case is $118,000